Metal-punching machine.



C. H. SEDGWIGK.

METAL PUNGHING MACHINE. APPLICATION 21mm JAN. 30, 1914.

1,132,490. Patented M51216, 1915.

THE NORRIS PETERS C0,. PHOTC-LITHOH WASHINGTON. D. C.

METAL-PUNOHING'BEACHINE1 Application filed January 30, 1914. Serial No. 815,503.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CECIL HOWARD Snoo- WICK, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at 36 W est Ferry road, Millwall, E, in the county of London, England, have invented a certain new and useful ldetalPunching Machine, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has reference to apparatus or machinery for metal-punching and like operations, and is designed to provide improved means for the punching of rows of holes at regular distances apart, as frequently required, for instance along the edges of metal plates. The apparatus may also be used for other analogous purposes such as for stamping or indenting.

Gne feature of the invention consists in making the punching or operative portion of the machinery (that is to say the work ing head or stock which carries the punch and die) travel along the work with a step by step motion which can be varied or adjusted so as to vary the distance between the holes or indentations as desired. In:

this way considerable economy of space is effected especially in dealing with long metal sheets for instance, as the path required for the travel of the machine is approximately only equal to the length of the sheet or other piece of work.

A further feature of the invention consists in providing adjustable means for m ving the punching head or working portion of the apparatus positively step by step forward for the required distance after each punching operation, and for then looking or fixing it rigidly to the frame at the beginning of each punching action, the said locking being controlled for instance by the motion of the punch or by a cam or other- In addition to this the punch and the die may both be given a reciprocating movement, so that they come together at the moment of the actual punching after which they both separate and move away from the work, thus avoiding any liability to the die sticking or catching the work and interfering ith the travel of the punching or working head. To this end the die as well as the punch may be carried in a slide or plate worked by a cam or otherwise.

In order that the invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into effect reference will now be had to' the I accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in-

front elevation of the main operative portion, headstock or tool carrier, of a punching apparatus embodying the present improvements. Fig. 3 is a general front view of the said apparatus. Figs. 4 and 5 show in section and side view, a device for effecting the adjustment of the traversing steps or movements of the punching head. Fig. 6 is a detail view of a device used in effecting the adjustment of the steps or move ments.

In this example of punching machine, the headstock, tool carrier, or working head a, which carries the tools (6 5 may be arranged to travel along a pair of parallel guide rods or bars 0 c arrangedone above the other, and supported in the end frames 0 therein two slides, the upper one d carrying for example a punch .7) and the lower one vd carrying the die 6 although stamping or indenting tools may be used when desired. These slides are worked by eccentric pins 6 e (or it might be cams or the like), and the shafts e carrying these pins are driven through a pair of gear wheels f f actuated iii any convenient'way. In the example shown, a long driving shaft 51 carrying abelt pulley g or other'means for rotating it, carries a bevel pinion h which gears with a corresponding pinion k on a shaft 2' at the top of the body orcasting a,

This working head a has mounted Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Rial. 16, 1915. I

the bevel it has a tongue and groove con- .nection with its shaft 9, so that while rotating therewith it-can slide freely along the same from end to end with the punching headstock a. v

Any suitable arrangement. (such as a small frame or bracket extending'from a) is provided to keep the bevel gears h h in their proper engaging positions. The top shaft 2' has a pinion i engaging with .f, and

also carries the flywheel 5 which stores up the energy for the punching stroke. In-

stead of this driving arrangement however,

the-punch and die may be driven for instance by, hand-power or by a small electric motor mounted on the working head a of the apparatus,

In order to effect the step-by-step movement of the punching apparatus or headstock a, a crank-pin j mounted on a disk 7' driven by the spur wheels j from one of the said gear wheels (f), is adapted to enter successively a set of gaps or recesses 1n a fixed longitudinal toothed rack r bar is. lhe said crank-pin is made adjustable radially as to its throw, and thus alters the length of the steps or movements of the working h ad, and consequently the spacing of the holes or indentations produced.

he arrangement is such that the eccentric pins 6 6 move the slide (Z downward and the slide (Z upward simultaneously, and effect the punching operation, the energy of the flywheel 2' assisting in this operation. The slides cZ 6Z1 (carrying with them the punch and die) then separate, and the crank pin j now enters the corresponding gap in it and effects the traverse of the machine another step ready to punch the next hole. This traverse is effected as follows :In the lower half of its revolution the crank pin j enters one of the notches or tooth-spaces in the fixed rack 70, and being of course unable to move the latter, its reaction causes the working head a of the apparatus itself to travel forward a step along the guide rods. After finishing the lower half of its revolution, the pin j clears the gap or notch and then swings forward in the upper half of its revolution, and comes into a position ready to enter the next gap, or the second or third gap in advance according to the radius to which it is set, and the particular spacing required. At the same time that the pin clcarsthe gap or notch, the next punching stage commences, and in addition the device for looking or fixing the working head a comes into action. This locking device con prises a tooth or dog Z connected transversely to a vertical slide bar Z working in guides Z secured to a At its upper end the slide Z is connected to a lever m pivoted to the working head at m and connected by a link a with a bar 01, fast to the top of the upper slide 03. In this way, when (Z descends'to effect the punching, the tooth or dog Z at the same time inserts itself between two teeth of the rack and locks the whole apparatus firmly in position. The parts are so timed that the dog Z continues to hold the body a in this way, until the pin j has entered the next gap or recess in which it is to act, whereupon Z rises, and pushes the apparatus forward another step, at the com pletion of which the pin j clears the rack while Z reengages it, and so on. The device Z may however be worked either from the gearing or by a separate cam.

The workto be operated on, such as a long plate of metal Z, is clamped between a pair of long bars 7) 39 one or both of these bars having adjusting screws p (or their equivalent) at their ends, to effect the opening and closing of the clamping bars as required for the insertion, adjustment or removal of the work 0.

It will thus be seen that as before in 1 1 I 1 cated tne floor space required is out ht punched. Moreover as the distances between the holes are simply determined by the toothing of the rack 70, they are practically absolutely exact, each being a repetition of the other, wnile the power required is o that to punch a single hole. These po are distinctive from ordinary multiple punching machines where a number of punches are set side by side and all operate simultaneous y, because it often occurs that there are slight irregularities in the spacing of these punches. In addition to this sulficient power must be exerted to punch several holes at the same time and thus the machine is necessarily clumsy and heavy. Moreover as the machine itself is fixed, the work has tbe fed in at one side and gradually worked through the machine until the other end reached, the w iole length of the work then projecting out at the other side, so that twice much clear floor space is required as with the present machine, which is a great consideration when dealing with long sheets.

The radius of the crank pin 7' may be varied in any convenient way. For instance it may, as shown in Figs. 4& and 5, be mounted on a slide 7' working in a dovetail groove in the face of a disk i carried by a shaft 3', and be combined with a cap or face plate having a cam groove j through which it projects. In this way by turning the cap plate in relation to the disk, the cam groove will move the pin toward or away from the center as required. The cap plate may he fixed in its adjusted Josition by any suitable means.

At each end of the machine, a movable rod or lever may be arranged which con rols any suitable mechanism for reversing the motion, by altering the direction of rotation of the shaft 9 for instance. This reversing rod or lever is adapted to be struck by the working head a.

The momentum of the flywheel i will cause the head a to continue to travel sufficiently far to completely reverse the motion and cause the head a, to begin to travel backward again. As this may not be desirable until a fresh piece of work has been inserted in the machine, means may be provided for bringing it to a standstill at the end of its stroke, before the punching head a has gone far enough to completely throw over the reversing lever.

The fixing stop or dog Z maybe doubleended and one end may be bent or ofiset so that it will have a lead as it were over the other as seen more clearly in plan Fig. 6. Thus by reversing the stop Z on the slide Z one end will se 've for cases where the movements are only from one tooth to the next, whereas the other end Wlll serve for a longer movement. Interchangeable stops may be provided to cover all the lengths of movement, or punching distances, in the range oftinuously, substantially as described.

2. In a punching apparatus the combination of a working head, tool slides mounted in said working head and moving toward and from each other, a punch and die carried by said slides, a feed device carried by said working head for imparting an intermittent movement thereto, a rack'bar which said feed device engages, and means for operating the tools and feed device continuously, substantially as described.

8. In a punching apparatus, the combination of a working head, tool carriers mounted therein, and arranged to move simultaneously toward and from each other, a feed device having a continuous movement, a rack-bar with which said feed-device engages intermittently to give the step by step movements, and a locking device carried by one of the tool slides and adapted to engage the rack-bar as the feed device disengages the same, substantially as described. 7

l. In an automatic punching apparatus the combination of a working head stock, a punch mounted therein, feed mechanism for moving the said headstock forward step by step, means for adjusting said feed mecha nism according to the spacing of the holes, lockin mechanism actuated simultaneously with the punch, and driving gear in constant connection, with the punch and the feed mechanism and driven with a continuous motion, notwithstanding the intermittent step-by-step motion of the working head, substantially as described.

5. In an automatic punching apparatus, the combination of a working head, a reciprocating punch mounted therein, a crankpin mounted on said working head, means for adjusting the throw of said crank-pin, gearing for reciprocating the punch and simultaneously rotating the crank pin, and a rack-bar with which said pin engages during part of each revolution, for feeding the working head forward by the distance required for the next punching operation, substantially as described.

6. In an automatic punching apparatus, the combination of a movable head stock having an intermittent movement, an upper and a lower reciprocating slide, a punch carried by the upper slide, a die carried by the lower slide, an adjustable-throw crank pin, a notched-rack with which said crank pin is adapted to engage during part of each r volution to give the intermittent movement to the head-stock, and continuouslydriven operating mechanism in gear constantly with the slides and the crank-pin, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I aifiX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CECIL HOWARD SEDGWICK.

Witnesses:

HERBERT D. JAMIsoN, C. BARNARD BURDON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

